Die Vogelkäfig von Trieben
by Chiheisen no Hikari
Summary: On the fateful day when März von Ludowing was pushed to the well, what if it was someone else who ended up in the clutches of Ido? Sound Horizon's Märchen based.
1. Kapitel 1

A/N: Hikari: Oh-kay, those who have checked my profile (which is most probably none, but still~), know that I've been planning a new story since the completion of my last one (and yes, I know I should finish that other story first, but... well... yea, sorry about that...). "Die Vogelkäfig von Trieben" it is called, and it's basically Elisabeth-and-März-swich-places kind of story. Saving rest of the explanation to the end, as always ^^

**Disclaimer:** As you know, I'm not a fan of repeating this again and again, so: I do not own Märchen, I hnever have and never will, unless I marry Heika, which is very, VERY unlikely to happen. Translations to lyrics are by **Defade**.

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><p>Kapitel 1: Das Märchen des Lichtes und Dunkles<p>

Darkness. Utter and complete darkness was what surrounded her as she opened her eyes. Blinking a couple of times she tried to figure out what the place was, trying to find even something relatively solid looking. She failed. Standing up she tried to think. Where was she? How had she gotten there? And why?

No answers came to her. Sighing she tried in turn remembering what had happened last before the darkness. For a while, that too was useless. Until there was something. A well.

Suddenly the darkness started to take a form, form of walls surrounding her. No, just one wall, rounding around her, creating a small space she had only little space to move. Looking up she saw a round piece of a night sky, and she was lit by the moonlight that gently travelled down the walls. She felt cold water at her feet, though the coldness was oddly distant.

She was in… a well? That answered the first of her questions. Two questions left.

The second question was rather obvious to answer. She had, of course, fallen in. How else would she have ended up in a well, if she hadn't? But then there was the third question.

Why?

/V~T\

_Elisabeth was excited. It was written all over her features that she was. Though what could one expect? She was meeting up with her only friend after such a long time._

_Well, actually it hadn't been that long. They had been separated for almost a month before she found out about his whereabouts. And to add to that, her brother had been more than glad to get rid of her for even just a while, at least with little persuasion. Luckily Elisabeth had been able to think up proper reasons for leaving the castle for a day or two. She was supposedly visiting a noble family near the place her friend resided._

_She didn't feel good about lying, she never had. But it was necessary in this case. And in her small head she was stubborn and determined enough to do anything necessary to see him again._

_Currently Elisabeth was on a carriage that was on its way towards the town the noble family lived in. She knew, however, that she wouldn't find him there. He had told her that he and his mother never lived in towns, but in forests near them. When she had asked, he hadn't known why this was. It just had always been that way._

_As the carriage pulled to stop, Elisabeth hopped off with the kind assistance of the driver. She thanked him and waved as he drove away. Then, instead of walking down the street to the noble family's house, she went to the opposite direction, out from the town, a little ways from there and into the forest beside it._

/V~T\

No matter how she thought about it, she couldn't find a solution. What had caused her to end up at the bottom of a well? Had she tripped? Or had someone pushed her? She didn't feel any pain, so it didn't seem like any of those options. So how? Questions after questions swirled in her head, but answers evaded her rather effectively. Then she decided to start with some basic things, what she did remember and what she did not.

First of all, she knew that she was in a well, and she knew what a well was. She also remembered the sky, the moon and the stars. Stars sounded oddly important, but as she once again met with no answers, she continued on.

She remembered what forests, and towns and cities were. She didn't remember specific people or places, however, which frustrated her to no end. Then she tried remembering things about herself.

Firstly, her name was… what was it again? She had to know that at least. So, she opened her mouth in order to say it out loud, only to stay quiet for a long while. Horror filled her. She couldn't remember her own name! She calmed herself and continued, hoping to find some clues from her head. There had to be some, there just had to…

Looking down she saw that she was wearing a drenched cream white dress that was decorated with darker bows. It seemed like some expensive material, so she could have come from a rich family..? That was not too much of a lead, but it was something.

Examining her appearance more, she noted that she had long blond hair that had apparently been tied up in a hairdo of some type, though now it hanged wet and a bit messy framing her face. It was too dark for her to see her reflection from the water, so she couldn't see her features or anything to give any more clues.

Seeing the water she noticed another strange factor: While she was wet, and it was clearly night time, she was only a little bit cold, and even that coldness was distant, as if it was someone else feeling cold. Why wasn't she any colder? She should have been freezing by now, as she was sure she had been in the well for a good time now.

How long _had_ she been in the well? And why had there not been anyone to come and get her by now? At that thought she stopped. Did she even have anyone that would come help her? Closing her eyes she tried desperately to remember whether she did or not. Somewhere at the back of her head there was a tiny spark that assured her that she did, but that was all.

/V~T\

_Walking down a small forest path she had located, Elisabeth carefully though through of how exactly she would find her friend. It seemed like a fairly big forest, he could be anywhere! She had to admit, she didn't have the slightest idea, and yes, it had been stupid to come here without a proper plan. But could one blame her? She missed him, so much that she could hardly bear it._

_So, despite the foolishness of her attempt, she was there, in the middle of the forest, following a path she had no idea where it would lead. But she was still confident; she could find him, if she just tried._

_Elisabeth got snapped out from her thoughts as she heard voices from no too far away in the forest. Looking around she spotted two men, a thin man and a much bigger one walking some dozen yards away from her. Thinking for a moment she decided to ask if they knew of her friend's location. Starting to make her way to them she picked out the conversation between the men._

"_Hey Hans! Is this really the right place?" asked the thinner man, looking around him at the tall, dark trees with suspicion. The other man, named Hans apparently, shrugged before answering the question with another._

"_No idea…you think I know?" His tone was irritated, and earned a similarly annoyed look from his companion. The thin man sighed._

"_Geez…such an eerie forest", he said with a shiver. Elisabeth couldn't say she liked these two too much. It might had been because she had spent enough time in forests not to be afraid of them, or just the tone they had in their voices, but something just didn't sit right in them._

"_Oh! Tom, that kid…" The girl startled at this, thinking that Hans meant her. Looking up she however saw that they weren't looking at her, but to the other direction. His further comment wiped the rest of her suspicions away, only to be replaced with other kind of suspicion. "Isn't he the kid of the rumored witch in Thüringen?"_

_Looking at the direction the two men were looking at, Elisabeth gasped quietly. Carrying along a doll, dreamily pacing around a small clearing was a boy of her age. His long silvery hair glittered in the bit of light that made it through the branches, and his half-closed red eyes never left the doll in his hands. It was him! There was no doubt about that. Moreover, that doll was the one she had given to him!_

_Elisabeth smiled in delight. To think that finding him had been so easy! She was in-._

"_Woah! We're in luck today!" Tom, the thin man voiced out her thoughts, though not really in a way she had expected. She looked over at the two men in surprise as Hans gave his partner the creepiest smile she had ever seen._

"_Right?" he said, and the duo started walking towards her friend. As Elisabeth followed the events, the men made their way to the white haired boy, snapping him out from his momently trance of staring at the doll._

"_Hey! Young mister!" With that they got his attention, which he gave to them without hesitation, being as polite as he was._

"_We have some business with the wise woman."_

"_Can you accompany us to her side?" Their words confused Elisabeth. She wondered just what kind of business could the men have with her friend's mother?_

/V~T\

So, now what? Looking up at the round sky above her head she saw no way out from the well. Though, for some reason, she wasn't too keen on getting out. It was more like she knew that she wasn't supposed to be in a well, than actually wanting out. She wasn't cold, nor was she in any kind of pain. Aside from the complete absurdness of it all, she was actually feeling quite comfortable.

That popped out a new series of questions she had no way to answer to. There was something she was missing. She wasn't supposed to be _comfortable_ in a well, was she? She should have been terrified and wanting out. But she wasn't.

"**And why should you?"** The sudden boom of voice that echoed throughout the space and her very mind startled her and she looked around in the small space to see where it had came from. When she found nothing, she blinked in puzzlement. The voice had been real, that she was sure of. Nothing merely made up by her mind could be so loud. Or so scary. Or so out-from-this-world.

"Wh-Who said that?" Her own voice was trembling slightly, and somehow gave out a not-quite-there kind of feeling. She frowned at that but decided to ignore it for the moment. It didn't take long for the voice to answer.

"**Aren't you the rude one. You didn't even answer my question. But that is fine, you being the child you are"**, it said, making the girl frown again. She said nothing however, as she could tell the voice was about to continue.

"**You may call me Ido."** The moment the voice stated its name, the well was filled with swirling darkness. She looked around at her new surroundings uneasily. She was a bit scared, but not too much, still knowing that she should had been. Her odd carelessness was starting to worry her a bit. It just wasn't normal. Though, was being surrounded by talking darkness normal? She rather doubted that.

"**Though you are not the one I was expecting. How curious"**, Ido said with a fascinated tone. Even though it didn't seem to have any eyes she could see, the girl was sure that it was examining her. She didn't really like being watched by something she couldn't really watch back. And what did it mean anyway, "not the one it was expecting"? That she decided to find out.

"What do you mean by that?" Her question made the being quiet down for a moment. Then, when it spoke again, it's tone was dismissive, which annoyed her slightly.

"**You have no need to know that, it doesn't matter."** The girl was just going to say something back as the voice continued, making her change her mind: **"I think you will do just as well."**

She had no idea what Ido was talking about. It was not making any sense with its words, not to her anyway. She had a bad feeling about this, but obviously it wasn't as strong as it should have been. A chuckle echoed throughout the darkness, sending a small shiver down her back.

"**Are you not wondering?"** The girl frowned in puzzlement at this question. She could almost feel Ido cock a theoretical eyebrow. **"How you came to be like that, I mean?"**

How she came to be like..? Like what? She looked down to herself, not seeing anything out of place in her appearance, in her opinion at least. Was there something wrong with her? The darkness around her shifted in something she could had called amusement, had she been sure the being could do that.

"**You do not realize it?" **A dark chuckle echoed throughout the space, making her shiver ever so slightly. **"Why, this is rather surprising. Though I guess you cannot be blamed, it did happen rather fast."**

A horrible suspicion started growing in her mind. What… What did Ido mean? What happened fast, what… What was wrong with her? Apparently seeing her growing horror, Ido shifted again, staying silent for a while. Then it spoke once more.

"**There are three things that allow me to converse with humans like yourself"**, it said, stretching each word slightly, gaining her full attention, **"Two of those three are hatred and impulses. The third one on the other hand…"** Another dark chuckle could be heard as the being affirmed her growing sense of terror.

"…**is death."**

/V~T\

_Elisabeth followed the men, as they were led by her friend towards his home, so it seemed. At first she had thought of calling out to him, but then decided not to, planning to surprise him while the men were talking with his mother. It would be so great, seeing the surprise on his face. He would be so happy to see her, she was sure of it. Or hoped it at least. She was overwhelmingly happy to see him again, so… He would be too?_

_She shook the thoughts away as the forest path widened to become another clearing, larger this time. There was a church in the middle of it. The building had seen its better days, with the paint flaking off and missing few small pieces of the roof, but it still stood high, and looked pretty and rather homey, in her opinion at least. In front of the church was an old well._

_Her friend led the men towards the door, stopping before the well and calling out._

"_Mother! I'm back!" Suddenly Elisabeth got a horrific sensation as she saw the faces the two men were making behind her friend's back. Evil grins of triumph and malefic expectation. This was not good, not good at all!_

_Out from the church came the gentle figure of his mother, whom she had met on more than one occasion. Looking up to him she smiled, before the emotion shifting on her features._

"_Welcome hom..…who are those men!" She had barely finished that sentence when Tom, the skinny man moved to push the white haired boy down to the well._

"_Thanks so much, young mis-!"_

"_Mär, look out!"_

_That moment Elisabeth didn't think. She moved. Before she herself knew it, she was already beside the well, grabbing his hand and pulling him away from the man's hands. The boy looked at her, surprised beyond words, before his mind grasped the situation and he turned to see the danger he just evaded, only to see another on its way._

_The enraged man had realized the situation as well, and took up trying to catch the two children, while the other one went after Mär's mother, who had curiously found a sword to defend herself with. As Tom closed up, they had no place to run. So, Elisabeth did what she thought to be right at the moment._

"_Mär… run." With those words she pushed his friend from the way as the man lunged forward. She lost her balance as his hands collided with her elbows._

_Then, she fell._

_The only thing she heard before being swallowed by darkness was a distant cry of Mär calling her name in desperation._

"_Elisabeth-!"_

/V~T\

Her eyes widened in horrified comprehension. She was… dead? No, that couldn't be! She didn't _feel_ dead, she was there, right? Alive and… Then she realized it. She wasn't breathing. She couldn't feel air filling her lungs and coming out once more. And now that she felt, or _didn't_ feel that, she also noticed that she couldn't feel her heartbeat either.

Death also explained the odd sense of distantness she had, concerning the coldness and wetness of the well, and the lack of concern over her situation. Since, what was there to be afraid of if she was already dead?

But now, a whole new set of questions entered her mind. Why was she dead? What had happened?

The first question was again easily answered; she had fallen into the well and died, simple as that. But the second question, that was the tricky one. What indeed had happened to her? Had she tripped? Or had someone pushed her? If so, then why? What had she done to deserve being pushed into a well of all things? She seemed a bit too young to have done something that severe.

As the questions whirled around and around, Ido followed her thoughts with mild interest. As she got to the part of "what had she done to deserve such a fate", it shifted once again. If it had had a mouth, it would have grinned in satisfaction.

She would do just fine.

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><p>AN: Hikari: So, you getting the idea? Hopefully, or else I'm really disappointed. Not really, don't worry.

So, as I said, Eli and Mär switch places. Isn't it a wonderful idea~? I'm completely ruining Elisabeth's image as a saint. Sorry about that. But I got the idea weeks ago, and it's been bugging me ever since. A plot bunny that has some temperament. And it's wielding the baton (aka poking-stick-of-doom). *the horror*

So, if you guys think this is a good idea, I'm planning on continuing this throughout IdoIdo and Märchen, song by song (as you can probably see, this chapter's name is Hikari to Yami no Douwa in German~). So, it's up to you~

Until then~! *dashes to hide from the mob wielding crosses and torches*


	2. Kapitel 2

A/N: Hikari: I'm so sorry for the HUUUUUGE delay! I have a reason, I do, really! But, as it is my habit, I'm saving my excuses to the end and bother you no longer. Onwards to the story!

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><p>Kapitel 2: In diesem kleine Vogelkäfig<p>

Looking out from the window of his room, März von Ludowing didn't see the beautiful nighty scenery before him. He didn't see the moonlit forest at the distance, nor hear the sound of wind blowing throughout the grounds and the trees. He didn't feel the wood of the table he was leaning to, nor the chill of the bit of coldness that reached inside. No, he wasn't mentally even in the room at all.

His mind was on that horrible day many years ago, on that moment that flashed before in non-stopping loop. It wasn't abnormal, he got lost in his memories quite a lot, especially when the anniversary was closing up. And, even though it was so long ago, he never forgot a single detail.

/V~T\

_He had no idea. About what? About several things in fact. He had no idea that the two men in he met in the forest had anything bad in mind. He had no idea that his mother would be accused to be a witch. Nor did he have even the slightest guess that Elisabeth would appear before him just in time to save him._

_März really, honestly never saw it coming. And he never got the chance to do something about it._

_When he was pulled away from falling into the well, he had been more than surprised to see his dearest friend before him. And then, everything happened so fast. The skinny man came closer to the two of them he could see the rage in the man's eyes. März was sure they were going to die. But then, just before the man stepped forward to push both of them down the well, he heard a quiet whisper behind him._

"_Mär… run." He couldn't even react when he was pushed away from the well when the skinny man attacked. März looked behind him just in time to see Elisabeth disappear beyond the wells edge._

"_Elisabeth… Elisabeth-!" His voice echoed throughout the clearing, bouncing off the trees and the walls of the church. No… No, this couldn't be! She couldn't be-! For a short moment he entered in a state of complete shock. She had fallen in… Elisabeth had fallen in… Why..? How could this happen..?_

_He was forcibly snapped out of her trance as his mother, Therese, appeared before him to block an attack the man had attempted._

"_Mär, go! Run!" Her tone was slightly scared, but determined. März started to protest, but at the glance his mother gave him, desperate and pleading, he reluctantly turned around and ran to the forest._

/V~T\

He clenched his fists in regret and guilt, a thousand and more sentences starting with "what if" spinning around and around in his head. What if he hadn't run? What if he had pushed Elisabeth away from the well instead? What if he had never guided the men to his home? What if..?

Hitting the windowsill time after time with his fist, März was once again filled with emotion of guilt and anger towards none other than himself. Why, why had he been so naïve? If he had been just a bit wiser, just a bit more suspicious… If he had thought a little quicker in order to save her from her fate… If only he had thought of the possibility of her still being alive at the time. If he had, if he would had checked, she could had been alive down there, she could had been…

If, if… It was no use repeating that two-lettered word. He calmed down a bit at that thought, distancing himself from the anger. With that gone, only grief was left behind. There was nothing he could had done. With that argument he tried to reason with himself. He had been only a mere child back then. If he had indeed not ran, he would had been pushed in along with her. If he had not leaded the men there, they would had just found another way to get to his mother. If he had been able to go back, and if she indeed had been still alive, he would have had no way to get her out.

There was nothing he could have done. And yet it all still felt like it was all his fault. Shaking his head and taking a slightly deeper breath, März stuck to his reasoning. He couldn't have gone back, there was no way, seeing what had happened after he left the clearing…

/V~T\

_He ran. Ran through the woods, barely dodging stray branches and jumping over roots. Nothing he had not done before, true, but currently it was at least ten times harder, seeing that he could barely see in front of him through the tears that were filling his eyes, falling down his cheeks and filling up again, at a pace faster than what he could wipe away. Not than he cared about that anyway._

_The events within the last few minutes replayed in his head constantly, and as the sounds behind him faded away due to the distance, his mind filled with the sole sense of having to get away, having to survive. So, even when he tripped and fell down, he wasted no time standing up again to run once more. Further, further away…_

_By the time his legs finally gave in beneath him, dusk had already fallen upon the forest. As he lay on the ground, soft with fallen leaves and moss, he cried. He sobbed and the ground became wet with his tears._

_März very nearly never cried. Not when he fell down, for his mother would always be there to help him up. Not when he was separated from his friend, for he had been sure they would meet again. But now…_

_Now they were both gone. His mother wasn't there to help him up now, he would never see Elisabeth again. He was alone. So alone… Only now he realized that he was still holding the doll his dearest friend had gave him in his hand, gripping it firmly. He pulled it closer to him, and hugged it. It was his only memento of the life he'd been living so far._

_At some point he must have fallen into deep sleep, for he saw dreams, nightmares of the horrible thoughts swirling in an incoherent mess within his mind. He could see the men, now with grins of malice over their features, chasing after him, shouting at him to bring them to his mother. He could see his mother screaming him to run, faster and faster. And finally, März could see Elisabeth, falling down, down, to the well, again and again and again…_

_He woke up with a scream to see an unfamiliar place and unfamiliar eyes looking at him worriedly._

/V~T\

Breathing deeply März thought back at the moment he'd woken up. The extravagant room he had found himself in had belonged to the noble family of von Edelstein, residing in a nearby town. A hunter had found him from the forest unconscious and brought him to the town. While he had been resting in the hunter's house, the noble couple had came in to seek his services. They had seen März and, after hearing about him, the wife took pity on him and pleaded on her husband that they'd take him in.

As he found out, the husband had agreed, though slightly reluctantly, more than anything to please his wife. So, he had been gone when März awoke, with only the wife staying by his side.

To say he had been disoriented was an understatement. Confused, horrified and in complete panic? Closer, but still not enough. The fact that he had tried to climb out from the open window to escape, even if they were on the second floor, before he was calmed down told much about his state at the time. Eventually though, he had calmed down. And as the memories from before falling asleep chose the moment to rush back, he hadn't been able to speak for a long while through his tears and sobs.

The Frau had been understanding and had waited patiently. She poured some tea for him, and as he didn't have the strength to hold up the cup without dropping it, she did that for him.

He wasn't sure how long it took for him to finally settle down, but when he did, he only then noticed how hungry and tired he was, despite sleeping for who knows how long. The wife had graciously not asked anything yet, saving the questions and explanations for later, and had offered him little something to eat before sending him to sleep again.

The next time he had woken up was the next morning. The wife had been gone at the moment, so he had thought of making his escape. As guilty as he had felt for leaving without saying a thing, he just couldn't feel safe in a strange place like this. He'd been used to the outside, living in forests, travelling from place to place. Even now, years later he didn't feel comfortable inside.

Unfortunately for him, the window he had tried to escape earlier from had been locked.

/V~T\

_He was out of luck. Or, well, he had been out of luck for some time now, he thought while wincing at the thought of the events before this house._

_Looking around, März noted various aspects about the room itself. It was most likely a guestroom, as, although extravagant and way too elegant for his tastes, it lacked personality. For his relief he saw the doll Elisabeth had given him on the bedside table, safe and sound, even if a little dirty._

_He was quick to realize that he would have to leave the room through the door in order to find a way out. Now that his head was finally clear, he had come up with a sort of a plan. Once he was out from the house, he'd find a way back to the forest and the clearing. He wasn't sure how, but he would try to track down his mother from there. She was probably hiding out somewhere, waiting for a chance to come and find him, he was sure about that._

_Then they could continue their life like before. Of course, he intentionally ignored the fact that nothing would be the same anymore. That he could not continue his life like before. That…_

_No. For now, he would just get out, get to the forest and find his mother._

_With that plan, as flawed and incomplete as it was, decided, he set out to complete the first step of it. Getting out from the house._

_So, he took his doll from the bedside table and walked up to his first obstacle. Carefully he opened the door, glad to notice that it had been left open, and glanced at the hallway. No one in sight, the coast was clear. Sneaking out from the room he closed the door behind him. It would take a bit longer to notice he was missing that way._

_Sneaking on his toes along the hallway he soon found his way to the entrance hall. There he found his next obstacle. Servants. While the hallway had been quiet and vacant, the entrance hall had so much life that there was no way he could get out without being noticed._

_At this point he stopped to think. What other place could be a possible way out? Thinking back to one night quite some time ago, when Elisabeth (he winced again at the thought of her) had in turn showed him around her home. While the place had had even more space and decorations, the basic layout was probably the same. And with that, he found his solution: There was the servants' entrance, the back door! And that could be found from the kitchen. Smiling ever so slightly in triumph he sneaked around again._

_The kitchen was huge, in his opinion anyway. He hadn't seen many kitchens in his short life, but he could tell this was one big place just for making food. And this place, too, was full of people. But unlike the entrance hall, the kitchen had many places to hide, so it wouldn't be a big deal to crawl under the tables through the room to the door at the far end._

_And what he did was exactly that. But he didn't get all the way there, however. As he was crawling under one table, he overheard two maids discussing._

"_It was really awful, I tell you", one of them was saying as he had to stop to wait for a butler to pass before he could continue, "Frau was completely horrified by the time it ended."_

"_I can imagine", the other answered, "I once saw one witch get burned at stake. Her screams still ring in my ears when I think back at it."_

_Even though the coast was clear once again, März didn't move. After hearing the word 'witch', he couldn't. Not after everything that had happened. He didn't know whether he wanted to hear more or not, but the word had nailed him on his spot under the table. It was someone else, he told himself. Just because a witch was burned right after the events of… however long it had been, it didn't necessarily mean… Right?_

"_This one screamed alright, but you know what she did before that? She laughed. She outright laughed!"_

"_How horrible. I'm guessing the witch of Thüringen was the real thing in the end, huh?"_

"_I'm more than sure about it." And so was the stunned boy beneath the table the two were leaning on. The witch of Thüringen… That was what the men had called his mother. That could only mean…_

_Suddenly he had no more will to escape. Actually, he had no will to do anything at all. That was it. The last bit of hope he had left had been taken away. He was alone. Completely alone._

/V~T\

März couldn't remember how long he stayed under the table after that. He hadn't cried. When he'd been found, he hadn't resisted being pulled out, but neither had he even tried to walk on his own. At that moment in his life, he had wished he would too be dead.

He had been told later that it had taken a full week from him to gain his strength back. He didn't remember much of it. It all seemed like a mess of despair and dark thoughts to him now. He still got depressed from time to time. Like today, for an example.

Sighing he leaned to his hands, thinking of what happened after the week. He hadn't been surprised when the Frau had proposed his adoption to her husband. Neither he had not been confused by Herr von Edelstein's reluctance, or the fact that he ended up agreeing anyway. He had changed.

He didn't resist the adoption; he had no place to go, so why bother? At first he simply didn't care what happened to him.

But as time went by, there were some things he found himself caring about. When he had to introduce himself, he never did it as 'von Edelstein', but always 'von Ludowing'. They thought at first that he just hadn't gotten used to the new name, but soon enough it was realized that he did so on purpose. He never shared the reason with anyone.

When someone had tried to take the doll from him, the reason being 'boys shouldn't play with dolls', he would never give it up, and even once bit some maid for trying to take it. That, too, remained a secret for only himself.

The wife was the only one who seemed to understand, even if it was just a fragment of the truth. She would always tell others to leave him be, for 'he must have had something horrible happen to him' and 'it's okay for him to remember his past, no one should try to take that away from him'. While the first reason was correct, the second was not.

It was not his past he needed to remember. It was his guilt.

So, as he turned his gaze from the world outside the window to the bookcase of his room, ruby eyes directed to the third shelf counting from upwards, he didn't feel fond memories flowing to his mind from the doll that sat there. It was all quilt, grief and melancholy.

He closed his eyes and sighed again.

"Elisabeth… What am I supposed to do now?" As if he didn't have enough grief already, just a month ago his only support within the household had died mysteriously. No one knew the reason for the Frau's death, as she had just seemed to cease from living completely in her sleep. Ever since then everyone, from the Herr himself to the stable boy had started avoiding him like he had the plague. Not only that, he was also forbidded to step out of the house completely, making him finally realize what Elisabeth must had felt like.

He could only imagine the reason for this. Even if it hadn't been for his appearance, the fact that he was one of the only people to see her alive last. They probably now just had gained a reason for avoiding him with this.

He didn't care, however. Whatever came upon him, he would take it. There was nothing anyone could take from him anymore. Nothing.

So, as his thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door, he wasn't surprised to hear that the Herr had called for him. He stood up, giving one last melancholic glance at the doll, before following the servant out from the door.

What he failed to notice was a pair of translucent figures in the most shadowy corner of his room…

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><p>AN: Hikari: So... um... My explanation? I couldn't decide how to go about this one. I couldn't go with the original story, as, well, it didn't fit. And then I tried to stay faithful to the fairytale theme, and started looking for another story that could fit. That didn't work out in the end, so I had to come up with a new fairytale, basing it on the original, but with major changes. And that took time. So there, that's my excuse. *someone throws something* Ow... Sorry again!

But! I have reviews to answer!

**pika318**: Yes, I've seen some of those too, and they have been working as inspirators for me while writing. And haha, that point about your sister~ That's unique~

**Silver Flare of Spirit**: Hehe~ Thank you! And, hum, that partner-in-crime thing... I have some idea about it, explainin more a bit later.

**BlazingKaiogra**: I had a kind of "what if" going on when I started~ And I sure will continue, even if it may take some time at times ^^"

**dawntodusk**: I know it's long. My fingers prove for it XD I'm trying to write each of the chapters really long (reaching 6 pages on Word O_O) I hope I won't ruin her image later either haha~ At first I hadn't thought about her remembering anything, but in the end, it just came out that way ^^" Aaaaand that last comment made me realize just how long I kept everyone waiting... I feel ashamed

Oh-kay, about the chapter and the story overall before I go away~ As said, I had to come up with a completely new story with this thing, but in a way that it would result the same in the end. Yes, that means März is going to get crucified. Yup. But, aside from Torikago/Haritsuke, the rest of the stories are still the same ones as in the original. But there is one thing I haven't really decided yet:

The side-kick of Elisabeth the batonwielder. Not Elize, that is for sure, as the doll is with März. And not März-doll, I just don't see that. So, I have come up with two possibilities: Therese, in some form, or... *drumroll* Idolfreed! I can't really decide, although I am leaning onto Herr Erhenberg (literally *shot*). Ideas? Suggestions?

Well, anyhow.  
>See ya all later~!<p> 


	3. Kapitel 3

A/N: Hikari: Okay, like every time, I say I have a reason for this. And I'll explain it later. So... Please don't burn me at the stake! *cowers in fear*

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><p>Kapitel 3: Warum Sie wurde ein Hexen<p>

The late daylight, that should have been warm and peaceful with all that orange and red that tainted the sky, seemed almost cold when filtered through the bars of the only window of what could only be described a box of stone, when looked at from within it. The only resident of the said box had no other option than this, though, so she didn't really care what it looked on the outside. She did, in the end, have a whole lot of other things to worry and think about.

Cold walls of the prison cell gave no answer to the questions the woman sitting inside had on her mind. While she didn't even say them out loud, Therese thought this was rather unfair. It was for sure, that if the walls could speak, they could tell stories that would fill books after books after books. Surely they could have answered a few simple questions? As it was, they heard every bit anyone ever spoke within the place. And they'd been around for so long too, seen so much history…

But, in the end, did this matter anymore? She was trapped, with no way of escaping. Where would she go anyway? If she somehow found a way to escape, she doubted she would get far. The guards would not let a witch escape, and with the citizen being so afraid of her 'kind', there would be no shelter for her either. And even if she were to find a way out of the town, what were she to do?

Leaning to her arms, Therese thought of this. She would have to find März, but where to even start looking? The forest was vast, and she hadn't seen what way he had ran off to. What if those men had caught him? No, she thought, they hadn't. She would have heard of it by now. März was such an eccentric looking boy after all, and this was a small town, the only one around the forest. Rumors were bound to move fast.

Brown hair fell in front of her eyes as she leaned in even more over her knees. But even at the slightest of chances that she was to find her son, there was no way for them to survive anymore. She wouldn't be able to continue as a healer, as, now that they had caught her once, they wouldn't give up until she had been burned down to cinders.

"At least your son is safe", she murmured, trying to lighten up her dark thoughts. Little good did that do, as her voice wasn't all that sure about that.

Unfortunate event after another, such was her life, huh? No matter what she did, it eventually always turned against her. Even this situation was just the result of her wanting to shield her one and only son from the cruelty of the world. Instead of protecting him, her actions only resulted him losing the one true friend he had ever made during his lifetime...

/V~T\

_Therese von Ludowing hummed as she mixed her latest medicine. She had just a few days ago came up with the formula for it, and it only needed some honing now. The medicine was supposed to ease the pain of those suffering from the plague; at least once she got it right. Of course she would never be able to find a cure for the plague, but if she just could make the remaining lives of the poor souls a little easier, a little more durable. Even after all that had happened, she still couldn't rid herself of the so called habit of helping others._

_Adding a bit of this and a dash of that, in a seemingly random order, Therese thought back on the days she was just starting to learn of the various herbs and plants the forest offered to a healer. Now it seemed like such a long time ago. März had still been so little, merely a toddler, he had just learned to walk, still trying to cope with a world he couldn't see…_

"_Mother! I'm back!" A call sounded from outside the old church they had found as their home for the time being. It was a lovely, out-of-the-way place in the middle of the forest. The building was old, ancient even, and the age showed itself in the slowly crumbling walls and the leaking roof that could give in any day. Still, she loved it. There was enough space for the two of them in the parts that were still good for use, there was a lot of space outside before the forest started, and there was even a well in the courtyard. True, thou couldn't be sure whether the water in it was drinkable, but still. And, while she had given up praying and believing in God a long while ago, she found herself at peace inside the old church, almost like back in the days she could still believe. Even her son seemed to like the place, as heartbroken as he still was after having to leave his friend behind._

_Setting her things aside she set out for the door to greet her returning son, who was curiously early today. Usually he spent a lot more time in the woods, wandering about with that doll the girl had given him. He never let the thing out from his sight, the poor soul. Therese opened the door, wondering worriedly whether something was wrong with him today._

"_Welcome hom…" Her sentence was cut off by the sight of two strange men behind her son. Instantly her protective maternal instincts flared. "…who are those men!?"_

_Panicking she saw as one of the men approached März in an attempt of pushing him down the well. She was too far away to do anything about it; there was nothing she could do. März would-!_

"_Mär, look out!"_

_Suddenly the boy was no longer there, and the man's arms met only air in the spot he had previously been standing in. Therese could only stare in wonder and extreme gratitude at the girl who was still holding the boy's hand after saving him from the certain doom. The girl, Elisabeth her name was, the friend März had missed so much… What was she doing here?_

_She got no chance to ponder that when she was snapped back to reality by the men, who were moving again. Swiftly, with no time wasted, Therese stepped back inside, grabbed her heirloom sword from the wall it was leaning to and was back outside in a manner of seconds. In one smooth move she removed the sheath and entered a combat stance with practiced ease._

_Those impudent pigs would never lay a single finger on those children, not as long as her name was Therese von Ludowing!_

/V~T\

A pair of guards passed her cell, one of them giving her an evil sneer, to which she responded with a tired, yet intimidating glare. After the two had passed, however, she slumped back into her sullen despair. Those triumphant looks she'd received during the past couple of days made her more or less irritated every time she saw them. Did grown men really have to be so proud at capturing a single woman? It seemed so childish. She gave the thought a mirthless laugh before sighing again.

In any case, tomorrow it would all be over. Her execution was decided to be held on that day. If she climbed up to see out from the window, she could see the spot where it would happen. Briefly she wondered what it would feel like, to be burned alive. It was a barbaric way to go, and would most probably hurt unlike anything else she had ever experienced. Hopefully she would choke on the smoke first, so she wouldn't have to suffer too long…

Another humorless chuckle echoed throughout the confined space. Look at her now. Hoping for a quick death, having already given up on life. Such a fitting end for her, huh? After all the misfortune she'd had to live through she was finally burned alive as a witch. On a cross, moreover.

How ironic, seeing that God seemed to have a grudge of some sort for her.

That thought stopped her, or would have stopped if she'd been moving anyway. Grudge, huh? That word made something nag at the back of her head. What was it again? Oh, well, some words just popped up in her mind anyway. Her thoughts and memories had become such a blur these past days that it had become nearly impossible to differ either one at times. At times she didn't know what to think at all. So, she just let it be, thinking that it would come to her eventually. Her fate was sealed anyway.

Another word that brought something to her mind. Fate. It was some ancient story from the south, had much to do with fate. Most of all how cruel it could be. At the moment she couldn't agree more.

Thinking about it, if she ever had just stopped to think, would she have been able to see where her life had been going? Now everything seemed like she should have known what was coming from the very beginning. She should had known that being a healer in this world of people who saw everything different as witchcraft and being in a pact with the demon would never end up well. She should had known that being so visible, becoming 'famous' with her skills would be bad. She should have known better than to let her child go around the forest where he could meet anyone while being so young, so naïve, so innocent and easily misguided…

All those things she should have seen coming… but didn't. Every single one of those kept on rubbing themselves on her face, torturing her mind with what ifs and could haves.

Like, for an example, if she'd gone straight past the bigger guy to Mär and his friend, things wouldn't had gone as they did, right? If only she had gotten closer, if only she'd gotten the thin guy first... If only. But that was too late now, wasn't it? Too late, for what had happened, had happened, and there was nothing she could do about it.

Because all the misfortune she could ever have had decided to infest her for the rest of eternity.

/V~T\

_The world seemed to slow down as the girl fell. The terrified and sad face of hers imprinted itself on Therese's mind during the fraction of a second she saw as the world froze. The girl, the one, the only, friend her son had ever managed to make… The moments she'd met the girl flashed before her eyes as she watched her fall. She was such a sweet girl, such an innocent being who knew nothing of the world, even less than März did… She tore her eyes of the sight to see her son, who had frozen to watch in pained horror what was happening in front of him._

_And then the time moved again. The men had no sympathy for the falling girl, and instead they kept attacking._

_Fury flared inside her. How dare__d__ they… How _dared _they!?__ These… these pigs! These__ murderers__ of the lowest kind!__ Dodging an attack she swiftly found her way in between of her son and his attacker.__ She blocked an attack and pushed the other back a few steps.__ The girl's sacrifice would not be for nothing, she would make sure of at least that!_

"_Mär, go!" Her voice almost cracked, but she kept it forcibly steady. She needed to snap him out from the trance he was in. As März looked at her almost disbelievingly, she returned the look with fierce determination and panic. "Run!"_

_Finally, as the men attacked again, he did as he was told. Relieved by the fact that her son would finally be safe, Therese gained new determination. Turning to her opponents, she raised her head high and called out the last bit of pride she had left in her. She swinged her sword with the skill she'd gained a long time ago, back time as long as she'd had the said sword in her possession. Back before she'd started moving from forest to forest, before she'd started helping those in need in order to atone for her sins._

_These men… no, they could never be called men. Someone who was willing to kill children, to spit on her labors, her hopes and regrets, her past and shame and pride, for something as useless and horribly corrupting thing as money, as that was all they were after, after all, could never be called even human. No, they were nothing but filth. Filth not worthy of even licking the dirt off her shoes._

_With the pride of her very being, her very essence, she pointed her sword at the filth._

"_Therese von Ludowing, though I have fallen, the blood of Landgraf still runs in my veins! Don't ever think that your ugly head can reign supreme over your torso again!"_

/V~T\

Thinking back on it now, she felt sort of embarrassed on the whole thing. Yet another thing that went, oh, so well for her, Therese thought sarcastically. After such an extravagant speech for her noble blood, see where she still ended up in? This situation, right here. Such undignified way she went down in the end too. Losing her consciousness after a punch to the abdomen. Laughable. Ridiculous. And ah, so fitting.

Soon after she'd found herself right there where she'd been ever since, this cold stone block that just sucked life right out of her. Night had long since fallen as she kept on thinking and remembering bits and pieces of her miserable life. Or, well, not so miserable at times. She had gotten to see her son, her only light in the darkness that was her life, grow up in the light the world could offer, as brief as it was in the end. Time had just rushed, now that she thought of it.

She remembered how März had been so small and fragile in her arms, how he bit by bit learned to walk and make things, even if he couldn't see them, how he would speak of light before he knew what it was, and the first time he'd seen the vibrant colors the world had to offer…

Wait. How did that happen again? How odd, Therese wondered, why couldn't she remember? Such an important thing too, her son gaining the ability to see. How did that happen? And then, the thought just slipped away, and she remembered again. The time he'd brought his first friend over.

Elisabeth, he'd say her name so many times, he had said he liked the sound of it, though not when the girl was around, of course. While she'd been wary at first, with Therese having the intimidating aura she had, they'd gotten along so well after a while. She'd felt sorry for the girl, with the treatment she received at home. She sort of reminded Therese of herself when she was younger, a feeling which only made her protective for the girl. She was such a fragile thing too, and oddly familiar for some reason. She'd never known why.

Watching the happiness the girl brought to her son, she hardly cared however. Over the sadly short time they spent together, they'd grown so close to each other, both of them teaching the other things Therese had known she could never learn herself. Things from the world of light. And even as they'd had to depart, they'd vowed to meet again.

How heartbreaking it was that their meeting anew ended so sorrowfully.

Thoughts and memories flitted in and out her head as another night went by without sleep. As the first rays of the rising sun shed light to her gloomy cell, she realized that it was the last morning she would ever see. The thought made her look up towards the window, where she could just barely see a slit of light blue sky. It was a beautiful morning, she could see that.

The last bit of irony God decided to send down to her.

Not long after this they came for her. She didn't resist when they dragged her out from her cell, she didn't struggle when they tied her up to the cross, and as the preacher called out, she listened to the words with only half an ear.

"We must give grace to the faithful, and deliver just retribution to the heretics!" Looking out at the crowd that had gathered to see her die, she could see their bloodlust in their eyes. In the end, this was what humankind was about. The preacher too, while he was supposed to be a man of mercy and faith, carried the same lust in his eyes. "Come, everyone! Bring down the iron hammer of justice on the witch!"

As he called this out, the crowd answered with the ferocity of the animals they were.

"**Bring down the hammer!"**

As the flames started slowly, but in an increasing rate, licking the wood beneath her feet, Therese finally saw her life for what it was, in all its misshapen, dark and murky glory. She saw all the people with no sympathy for her, no regret for the fate of the woman they were gruesomely murdering…

A smile crept on her lips as she realized the comedy of it all. The whole world, in an eternal loop of a grotesque, inescapable, ridiculously miserable comedy, spinning round and round eternally balancing between misfortune and fortune.

Such comedy in an endless tragedy… And to that she laughed. A maniacal, cackling laughter to all the wretched living beings populating this horrifically beautiful world sounded all around her, reaching the very end of the staring, raging crowd.

And as the flames crept to eat away her burning body, the laughter turned into a scream, and as the darkness crept into her eyes, she finally remembered.

And then, finally then, the story of Therese von Ludowing came to its end.

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><p>AN: Hikari: So... My explanation? Even though I promised to update earlier? What could it be that kept me from updating for so long? For longer than on the previous chapter? Uhm... I have nothing. Okay, okay I do, but... It really feels like an excuse, more than anything. But here goes: I haven't been able to write. At all. I don't know why. Anything that is supposed to even resemble a story (fanfics, other stories, even school reports)... Nothing. I stare at the blank page and I get nothing. Up until today. And it's been torture, not being to write enything for months and months. And that is my reason. My only reason. So... forgive me?

Reviews:

**pika318**: I knooow : I felt so bad writing that, I like März and still I make him suffer so much. I seem to be doing that to many of the characters I like... The sidekick thing, I'll return to that later, as all of you mentioned that~

**BlazingKaiogra**: Oh, I'm glad I made you glad~ (back then, seems a bit weird writing this after all that time... but anyhow) And thank you very much! I'm glad that it turned out well, since I worried a lot with how it would be received ^^

**Silver Flare of Spirit**: Thank you~ I had to ponder a little for what happened to him after running away, and since I had to create a new set of character solely for that purpose, I was a bit worried ^^" And yes, the Frau, I liked her, and then she died. Why do I keep doing that?

**Neko**: *gets hit by the shoe* Owwww : I deserved that, and I deserve another... After four months again . I'm sorry! Ahh the name Edelstein XD I seriously just wanted to give the family some extravagant name, so I just translated the word 'jewel' to German. Had no idea what sort of reactions it would bring XD And yes, the Herr is so mean D: I just want to kick him.

**dawntodusk**: Ah I know that... And deserve that too... ^^" Yea, I try to make this more than just a simple switch, otherwise I would myself get bored with this. And sorry, really sorry for the wait again, I'll try to get the next chapter up sooner, and this time I'll be sure to, since I got my writing switch back on again ^^"

About the chapter: I love writing Therese. She's got this spark in her that just makes her interesting to write. And she's so unfortunate... And I always end up killing her. Again with this...

Sidekick thingie: Am I perhaps the only one who thinks of Ido and Idolfreed as two completely different personalities? As in Ido is the dark, thundering, formless voice of doom and Idolfreed the awesome, somewhat airheaded guy with love for big chests? 'Cause that's what I think of them... While they may be the same person, when I said that I could set Idolfreed (am I misspelling his name? I get the feeling I am...) as the sidekick, I meant the latter one, as in Ido 'revives' the part of him that used to be Idolfreed to become the sidekick (since I can't really merge Elisabeth with Idolfreed's body, 'cause that would be... weird...) With this explained, what do you think? Things can still go whichever way.

'Till next chapter (which hopefully will not take as long to appear)~!

(By the way, anyone notice a Moira-reference? :D Cookies to those who find it~)


	4. Kapitel 4

A/N: Hikari: Hello, it's been... two months now? It was around 5 am when I got this done, so didn't really make it during last year ^^" Missed by five hours... Anyhow, enjoy!

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><p>Kapitel 4: Das Lied von Dämmerung<p>

"But… why would they kill me? I did nothing wrong, did I?"

Even though, bit by bit, her memory was starting to recover, the girl still had many, many things she couldn't remember. Ido knew this was an advantage. While everything had not gone according to plan, he still did end up with a murdered ghost with amnesia. An amnesia which was curing at an alarming rate, admittedly, but still. He could work with this.

Of course Ido would much rather had taken the boy, whom he'd been preparing ever since they first got in contact years ago, unbeknownst by the boy himself, which also would had had the grudge of the mother to work with. But that was hardly possible now, being that he had not fallen in and, in a rather twisted way, the woman had come to accept her fate, instead of holding onto her grudge like intended.

So, he'd have to adjust his plans somewhat. The thing was, though, that the girl had no bitterness in her. So far, from what he could tell, there was only confusion and dulled fear caused by the missing portions of her memory. Ido doubted that she would ever feel that need to avenge her death, which made things difficult. But he still had a chance.

"**Would you like to find out?"** What he was about to do was risky, but he had to gain her trust. In order to get to his goals he needed the girl's (ah, she needed a name, he couldn't go on calling her 'the girl' for the rest of eternity) assistance.

She looked questioning.

"How?" Had he had lips, he would have smirked.

"**I have certain methods I can use to bring some of your memory back"**, he said mysteriously, but truthfully. He kept his voice steady in case she would start suspecting something.

She pondered on this for a moment, before opening her mouth again.

"How would you do that?" Her voice was timid, as if she didn't dare to hope for too much, but it was enough. She was taking the bait.

"**I would have to enter your mind for a short while to search for the lost memories"**, he stated. As she gained a sort of distrustful look in her eyes, he continued,** "Though only if you let me, of course." **A complete and utter lie, that one. He could do so anyway, but she had already remembered too much. It would be pointless to wipe her memory at this point, humans always had the 'nagging feeling' at the back of their heads when something was wrong, even if they couldn't remember it. She would never trust him enough if he did that. So, he would have to prevent her from remembering more.

She looked troubled, her head slightly hung. Obviously she was trying to decide whether to trust her mind with him or not. She was quiet for a fairly long moment, and as Ido was starting to get annoyed by her silence, already planning something horrible if she didn't open her mouth soon, she suddenly held her head up again.

"Do it. I don't really have other options, do I?" Her resolve was slightly surprising to Ido, who had expected more questions from the girl. She was even more naïve than he'd thought. Sometimes he wished he'd have a mouth to smirk with, just for the sheer patheticness of human beings.

Without wasting any time after receiving the permission, he invaded the poor girl's mind, making her fall on her ghostly knees screaming in agony, holding her head. Oh, how full of light that head was! How utterly horrible. Ido searched throughout her mind for the memories still hazy enough not to remember, all the light not yet found, gathering them and locking them up to the very back of her head, never to be found again, if he had a say in it. And, as he was currently in full control of the girl, he had very much to say about it.

As he searched, as well as listening to the delightful sounds of the girl's screams, he also found the girl's name from her memory. Elisabeth, that was it. She was almost remembering the name too. Well, let her keep her name, there was no harm in her remembering that. However, there was another name, much more dangerous than her own. The name was connected to all of the most treasured memories the girl had; all of the memories which, if returned, would ruin his plan completely, as if he hadn't ran into enough trouble with it already. So, he took the name, and hid it behind everything else, buried it so deep, that there was no way humanly possible to return it.

With that out from the way, he selected a few not at all important memories, along with her name, to be returned to Elisabeth. Just to make the girl think he'd actually helped her.

Finally, after what was actually a few seconds, while for the girl it was more like an eternity of pain, Ido left Elisabeth's mind, leaving behind sheer coldness and fading agony. She trembled as she held her head, on her knees in the water, and while she wasn't supposed to feel anything at all, the pain had been more real than anything she knew. After she more or less regained her ghostly senses, she raised her gaze upwards, towards the swirling darkness.

"You... You didn't tell me it would hurt this much!" The voice was accusing and mixed with the remainders of the past agony. Ido watched her with some sadistic amusement.

"**Calm yourself, Elisabeth"**, he said with disinterest towards her condition.

"Don't tell me to calm down, I..." She trailed off as a realization came to her. Her green eyes widened as she mouthed the name she'd just recovered. Elisabeth. Over and over her lips formed the word that held so much meaning in her now so pitiful existence. She burst into a beaming smile, directed at the formless one.

"It worked! I... I remember!" Oh, how happy she was for the crumble of her past and self. If only she knew how much she would never regain... "Thank you, Ido! Thank you so much!"

Had he still had humane emotions, Ido might have been moved by the girl's sincerity, but, as things were, he had hard time not to let the girl know just how much he would had wanted to laugh at her for her naïvety. Then, as her face suddenly fell, he had even more trouble, as he knew she now remembered the rest of what he allowed her to. For her name was probably the only thing she liked from the memories, as he'd selected the worst points of her life before the now locked name, and there had been plenty to choose from.

As she went through the memories, bit by bit she lost all of her previous cheer, as she saw what kind of life she'd led. All the sadness, loneliness and neglection she'd gone through during her short life came back to her with her name.

"This is... was... my life..?" Her voice cracked as she said this. And now, for the final touches. As he spoke, his voice was of bored tone, with a hint of sarcasm shining through.

"**Would you like to remember more? I doubt there will be anything better than that to be found..."** He trailed off intentionally. As her face fell even more, the answer was clear before she even opened her mouth.

"No... I... don't want to know..." Now the girl would find, that now that she had no body, she could not cry. No tears to shed, no way to let out her sadness. How cruel fate was being to the child. How perfect.

"**Now, child, isn't that unfair? All that cruelty you've been put through? Without love, without anyone to talk to?"** He spoke with made up gentleness, as he let his shadowy form surround the girl, **"And after all that... you end up here, at such young age too."**

Elisabeth hardly noticed the shadows as they slowly closed her within their grasp. Her green eyes were dulled at the realization of the utter pitifulness of her situation. Oh, this was more than perfect!

"**There was so much more you wanted from your life, so many things you wanted to experience... And they took it all from you. Those people, all those people who've done you wrong..." **Once more he would have smirked, had he had the means, **"Why should they get away with it? You're innocent; you were robbed of your life, your hopes, your dreams. Don't they deserve the same? Don't they-?"**

"Please stop..." The voice was small, merely a whisper, cracked with despair, "It's no use, I can't..." Ido narrowed his theoretical eyes.

"**I can help you"**, he said, and at that moment, just in front of Elisabeth, something formed from the shadows, floating in the air. It was a slender wand-like thing, bone white with red and black feather decorations just above the handle. In all its simpleness, it held the air of something dark, something unexplainable, much like Ido himself. The girl looked at the thing with glassy eyes.

"What is that..?"

"**It is a baton, much like one you can see with a conductor. However, should you accept it, you will become something much more. Not human, that I cannot grant you, but something far more powerful." **His words were alluring, and as she stared at the baton her eyes grew wider with temptation, **"With it you can control the fate, turn the tables for you, or anyone else. With it, you can finally get... your revenge."**

"My... revenge..." As if in a trance she lifted her hand to reach for the baton, almost touching it already, when she blinked her eyes and pulled her hand away, as if the baton was made of fire. She tore her eyes off it to look into the darkness, having difficulties locking her eyes with anything in the shadowy swirls.

"Why?" Her voice was suspicious, and her emerald eyes narrowed ever so slightly, "Why would you help me? We've only just met, and you offer me something like this..?"

"**Hm. How clever"**, Ido said with a hint of annoyance, this had seemed a tad too easy, before continuing, **"You are of course right to be suspicious, as I do have something I ask in return of this power."** It was no use hiding it, though he did twist the truth, slightly.

"**I am a... benefactor of sorts. There are many like you out there, unfortunate souls who had the most unfortunate of endings. I help them get even, deliver them the revenges they wish for, and which the wrong-doers deserve. However, I cannot do it by myself to the point I would like to. What I can do is... limited, both by my form and by the boundaries of my lair. Thus, I need someone to do my bidding"**, he finished in a somewhat reluctant tone, hiding the fact that there was more to it, the final bit he didn't say being the goal of his plan.

Elisabeth tilted her head somewhat, weighing the words in her mind.

"And that would be... me?" She sounded less suspicious now, and Ido had to marvel her naïvety once again. She honestly believed he was benevolent, didn't she? But that was the thing about ghosts, they never felt the things the same as the humans did, the chills and the "bad feeling" when something was off were all less powerful, and, after all, he had "helped" the girl, gave her some of her memories. She had reasons to trust him, even if they were false.

"**Yes. I would need you to conduct revenges with that baton, just until we find a way to get yours."** Like that was going to happen any time soon... **"So, what do you say? Equal exchange, don't you think?"**

She turned to stare at the baton, which still hovered within her grasp, once more. Now she wasn't in a trace like state, but nevertheless she looked open to the idea. Still, she was indecisive.

But she was on the edge; she only needed a small push. A shadow, lighter than a thought, slithered into her mind, giving her that push.

The small hand rose again, slowly, almost annoyingly so, to reach for the key to power. Just when her fingertips would touch it, she hesitated, stopping. The little shadow nudged her resolve to the wanted direction, making her finally grasp the baton.

Elisabeth's world then drowned into endless shadows...

/V~T\

Emerald eyes fluttered open to see the round piece of star-filled sky above. How peculiar, was Elisabeth's first thought, as she was sure the sky should be a lot wider, endless, and equal to eternity... Or was that just a dream? Wondering this, she sat up, black and red colors catching her attention. She noted rather dully, that her appearance seemed different. At first she wasn't quite sure, how so, but as she looked down at herself, bit by bit she spotted the differences.

Her dress had changed, that was the first thing she noticed. Or, well, the second, after the chains. They were all over her, attached to her dress, circling around her arms and hanging so, that they made noise whenever she moved. They weren't as heavy as they seemed, though she supposed that they'd end up being rather annoying later on.

The dress resembled what she'd been wearing before, but the coloring had changed into mostly black, the overskirt splitted into four parts, their helms decorated with cut-out crosses, and the blood red underskirt showing from the gaps, the red stained by black ribbons crossing from one part of the overskirt to another. The highlights of the dress were also the same sort of bloody red as the underskirt.

The top was fashioned slightly differently as well, with a cape like attachment to it, with the same sort of crosses as on the overskirt's helm. Otherwise the dress matched the one she'd been wearing before.

As Elisabeth examined her new attire, she also noticed other changes, ones that had nothing to do with the clothes. It started as she noted that her fingers were different; long and slender, of ashen white color that contrasted the clothing in an interesting way. Their form was adult-like, completed with black fingernails that further enhanced the contrast. In her right hand she held the baton that was the key to the whole transformation.

From the hands it went to her now long arms, followed by her chest, which had grown in size, a lot in her own opinion. Down her longer, taller, sensual body her gaze fell, until it hit the water at her feet, and she noticed her reflection. Back at her stared a beautiful young woman, whose long, golden hair had dulled and its ends were dipped in the color of dusk. The hair was tied up on a hairdo with a black and red bow, similar to the way she supposed it was supposed to be before she fell...

At this moment it all finally came back to her, her death, Ido, the contract... She still did feel the odd distance, which was probably what made it not seem all that important, or surprising, while she knew it was.

"Are you done admiring yourself, Fraulein?" The voice was not one she'd heard before, and sounded amused, both of which made Elisabeth turn around to see who on Earth it could be, the chains making noise as she did.

She came face to face with an unfamiliar man, who stood a small way from her, as she now noticed that the place was no longer the tight-in-space bottom of a well, since while the round sky above told that she was still where she'd fell in, there was much more space at the bottom. There seemed to be no walls, only darkness from the point where the sphere of moonlight ended. The man stood in the shadowy part, but stepped ahead when Elisabeth turned towards him. He was taller than she was, wearing clothing that included a white shirt, longish coat, knee-high boots and a long, red scarf. He had his long, golden hair tied back with a red ribbon, his bangs shadowing his cerulean eyes, which held an amused look within them. Also telling of his amusement was a smirk that had taken its place on his lips.

"And who might you be, if I may ask, Herr?" She tilted her head as the inquiry left her mouth. The stranger's smirk changed into a smile as he bowed.

"The name is Idolfried Erhenberg, though Ido will suffice", he said, before stopping, as he spotted her looking at him oddly. Then he seemingly realized what was wrong and spoke again, "...Or, well, that would be rather strange, of course... Just Idolfried then?"

Elisabeth had to laugh a bit at this, as strange as the situation was. She then curtsied, about to introduce herself when Idolfried smiled again.

"I know full well who you are, Elisabeth, Fraulein von Friedhof." She blinked a couple of times in surprise at the name.

"'Fraulein von Friedhof'?" Idolfried chuckled at her question.

"That's what you're called now; it's a title of sorts. Fitting, isn't it? 'The Young Lady from the Graveyard'", he said rather cheerfully, which was tad odd to Elisabeth. But then again, what wasn't odd these days?

"So... Herr Idolfried?"

"Just Idolfried, please."

"Idolfried then. Why exactly are you... well, here?" It was a rather good question, quite the obvious thing was that he was dead also, but what was the man doing there with her? Idolfried folded his arms as the smirk returned, with less intensity than before.

"Well, long story short, Ido thought you'd might want some company, something about the human need to socialize, yadda yadda yadda..." He waved the rest of the sentence off. The girl-turned-woman stared at the man for a moment, before chuckling. Idolfried was definitely strange, but not a bad person, so it seemed.

/V~T\

From the shadows, blending perfectly into the darkness, Ido followed the scene before him. He kept his amusement to himself, not letting out a chuckle to hide his presence. The girl didn't know to be wary of Idolfried, not many would have been. The man himself didn't know that all he was was merely a memory, an illusion brought alive once more. Such comedy, a fooled ghost and a mirage long past...

...And so, let the revenge tragedy begin.

* * *

><p>AN: Hikari: So I decided on Idolfried in the end~ And made up an explanation (?) for him... As said, I finished writing at 5 am, so not much can be expected on that? *shot for excuses*

Review time *theme music*:

**dawntodusk**: Ahahaha~ Must be with all writers... That hive-mind theory was an interesting one, I didn't really know about that before~

**Maisudanokei1856**: Hehe~~ There had to be a Moira reference, with all the talk about Fate *w* Well, as you may read from the chapter, Therese didn't become a witch in the end. Since in my opinion the whole "I'll become a witch" thing was triggered by the death of März, but since that didn't happen... About the whole fusing thing, read on~~

**NEKO NO GIN**: *gets hit by yet another shoe* Owww... How many of those do you have? The story from the south, yes~! As said, it had to be in there w Andandand I tried to get the chapter in before 2013 but but but ;w; I'm sorryyyyyy..

This chapter was rather difficult. And the end was rather rushed, sorry about that ;w; I didn't really know how to make the fusion thing "correctly", since everything became a bit confusing and in the end I didn't really have body which I could fuse Elisabeth with... So what I was thinking was, tha Ido used a lot more of his power on Elisabeth all at once than he did on März, since with März he'd been "preparing" him, and Elisabeth was pretty much untouched. So, he goes all out, "remaking" Elisabeth's own body for the purpose, which is why she still looks like herself, only older. Something of a plan B sort of thing? Hopefully you get my point.

The Idolfried thing became kind of a mish-mash of theories, while not specifically anything. You can each think what you want from the last lines~~ Someone tell me what are his eyes colored! I put "cerulean", but they're different colored in every picture I see...

*Gives out cookies to those who found the "story from the south" in the last chapter*

Bye again, do ask if you're confused~


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